Almost a year ago, I wrote this slightly jocular post after I read an article describing covert narcissism. It was the first time I’d actually read anything about it. Even back then, I recognized the symptoms as fitting me like a glove, but was far away from awareness. This slightly humorous, false self-deprecating attitude was typical of a lot of my posts at the time. I think somewhere deep inside though, I knew.
I can’t believe how different everything seems now.
I just finished reading a Scientific American article that delineates narcissists into two categories: Overt Narcissists and Covert Narcissists:
When most people think of narcissism, they think of the public face of narcissism: extraversion, aggression, self-assuredness, grandiosity, vanity, and the need to be admired by others (see “How to Spot a Narcissist“). But as far back as 1938, Harvard psychologist Henry Murray noticed another breed of narcissist among his undergraduates: the covert narcissist. While the “overt” narcissists tended to be aggressive, self-aggrandizing, exploitative, and have extreme delusions of grandeur and a need for attention, “covert” narcissists were more prone to feelings of neglect or belittlement, hypersensitivity, anxiety, and delusions of persecution [I’ve also seen this referred to as “inverted narcissism,” whatever that means].
Um, I’m prone to feelings of neglect or belittlement, am known to be hypersensitive and anxious, and there are times I believe I’m being persecuted…
But it…
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Lucky Otters Haven 
Is there such a thing as a healthy narcissist or healthy narcissism? Do the learned and educated psych folks call it something else? In any case, I think that’s a quality most of us have and/or need, at least to some degree. I don’t think you’re a narcissist at all, but just like all of us “normal human beings,” you are someone looking for a healthy mental and emotional balance. I guess that’s what makes you a “Lucky Otter.”
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I guess so, lol. “Lucky Otter” is actually the name of a restaurant in this area. I never ate there but I just like the name because I like otters.
I have to eat there sometime!
I agree narcissism in low levels is normal and healthy. Without any at all, you probably couldn’t survive. So in a way we are all on the spectrum. All children are narcissists and most teenagers are too. Most of them outgrow it though and only keep enough of it to survive.
Mental health experts don’t recognize healthy narcissism as a disorder, and it isn’t a disorder. But too much of it, and it becomes one.
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